


I'll Be Here For You

by PigSlay



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3492770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PigSlay/pseuds/PigSlay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Zayn are stuck at the university they both attend, because their flight got cancelled due to the snow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miniikinn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miniikinn/gifts).



> I don’t know One Direction. Thank you to Meghan for being my cheerleader when I was afraid this story was going nowhere. And thank you to my beta-readers, Hannah and Jack. Love you guys.

“What?” Zayn asks loudly into the phone, nearly yelling. He’s sitting down on the bed in his dorm room, packed suitcase lined up on the right side of the bed. He didn’t really pack much – just a few clothes, CDs he can’t stop listening to, and the books he plans to read over break. Okay, maybe it’s a little much by most people’s standards, but he’s packed more in previous years so he considers this a win for him.

“Sir,” the person on the other line says, trying to calm him down. “There’s nothing I can do. All the snow has made flights from here to the UK impossible. We’ll refund your money tomorrow, if not sooner. I’m sorry.”

Figures. Zayn should’ve listened to his roommate two nights ago. Maybe if he had, he’d be at home with his parents and sisters, watching cartoons together and telling each other stories about how their lives have been going since summer break ended.

“I’m telling you mate,” his roommate, Louis, had said two nights ago as he zipped up his suitcase. “The snow is about to seriously set in. Better to leave ahead of time so you can avoid that.”

“Easy for you to say,” Zayn had said from his bed, making a slightly annoyed face at Louis. “You’re not taking as many classes as I am and are already finished with your exams.”

“Didn’t you say the two you have tomorrow only count for like five percent of your grade, seven percent at most?” Louis inquired.

“Yeah but-”

“And you’re already passing both of them as well so really, what’s the point?” Louis concluded. Zayn really hates when Louis makes sense because then it’s hard to explain why he just _can’t_ do certain things.

“Yeah,” Zayn responded. “But I just can’t miss them, okay Louis? It’s part of who I am. If I did skip them I’d live with the guilt forever.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say. Enjoy staying on campus for the rest of the winter.”

Then Zayn proceeded to roll his eyes, but said nothing else on the subject. He didn’t want to cause too much drama in their last moments together before break. Louis left a few minutes later and they hugged each other goodbye and promised to text each other.

Now Zayn is wishing he had listened to Louis. The two exams didn’t even do much to change his grades in the classes, like Louis had said they wouldn’t. He wishes he cared less. He sighs, turning his attention back to the phone. “Okay, thank you for letting me know.”

“No problem,” the person on the other line says. “Happy holidays.”

“Happy holidays,” Zayn repeats, hanging up the phone. He exhales loudly and lays down across the bed, arms outstretched. He wants to cry right now, he really does. He can’t believe he’s not going to see his family again until the summer. He should probably call his parents or one of his sisters and let them know, but he knows that if he actually talks to any of them he really will cry, so he decides to send his mom a text instead.

_Mum , ‘fraid there’s some bad news… My flight got cancelled because of snow so I won’t be coming home for break. :/_

His fingers shake as he presses send. He should probably text Louis so he can gloat about how “right” he was, but he really doesn’t want to text anyone else, or really think at the moment. He reaches inside his suitcase and pulls out his CD of _Trilogy_ by The Weeknd and goes to put all three discs in his CD player. Once the music starts playing, he closes his eyes and tries to drift away to sleep.

However, he can’t sleep because no matter how loudly he turns up the music (which is kind of counterproductive because music like this is supposed to be played softly to fall asleep to, in his opinion), he can’t cover up the yelling taking place outside. Finally, groaning, he gets up from his bed, turns off the music (but not before turning the volume down so he’s not blasted when he turns it back on later), and walks outside. “What the heck is going on?” he shouts.

Clearly whoever was yelling didn’t hear him though. He walks closer and closer to where the sound is coming from and lands on another dorm room a little ways past his. He knocks on the door, not sure who exactly lives in this one.

“WHAT?” screams a voice on the other side.

Zayn, not waiting to be told to come in, opens the door a crack and peaks his head through. He can’t really see much. Most of his immediate vision is clogged with random junk. When was the last time whoever lived here cleaned? “Listen, I’m sure whatever you’re angry about is really well worth it but some of us – actually only one of us – are trying to sleep, yeah? So if you could either stop yelling or go home, that would be great.”

“But I _can’t_ go home,” the voice says. A head suddenly peaks out from all the junk, moving closer to Zayn and suddenly he recognizes who it is. Harry Styles. The two of them have talked to each other once or twice, but he wouldn’t say they’re really ‘friends.’ Harry gives Zayn a sad look that almost makes him want to hug him, but that would probably be crossing boundaries.

“They cancelled my flight to the UK because of snow,” Harry continues. He moves some of the junk out of the way, sitting down on a random box a few inches from the door and wiping his tears. Zayn’s not really sure what to do right now but doesn’t think Harry should be left alone in this condition either so he just stands there awkwardly.

“Well, come on in if you want to,” Harry tells him. Zayn gladly takes the opportunity to get out of the awkward position, but is pretty sure what he just walked into is another one. Still, not wanting to be rude, he pulls up one of the random boxes and sits down next to Harry. Harry exhales, sadness very much evident in it. “I’m sorry for all the yelling. Really. I’m just very upset about the fact that I’m going to have to miss this winter break because of the annoying snow.”

Suddenly his face falls into his lap and Zayn can tell he’s trying hard not to cry but some sniffles still come out. Zayn’s once again not sure what to do, but he knows he has to do something, so he starts gently rubbing Harry’s back. When Harry doesn’t fight it, he keeps going. “Hey, it’s okay. Well, it’s not okay, but I understand. My flight got cancelled too.”

Harry looks up at him all of a sudden. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Zayn responds, smiling at him because it’s good to know he isn’t in this alone at least.

Harry smiles back. “Well I’m glad to know it’s not just me.”

“Yeah, me too,” Zayn replies. It’s kind of awkward, the two of them just sitting there looking at each other, but Zayn isn’t sure how to politely peace out.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to. “Umm…” Harry says, clearing his throat and touching his hair. “Well, I gotta go get something to eat now. See you around.”

Zayn takes that as his cue to start walking towards the door. He nods and stands up. “See you around.” He walks back to his room and collapses on the bed. Maybe now he can actually get some more sleep.

***

Two days later, Zayn actually gets up at a decent hour and is just in time to get breakfast in the cafeteria. The school keeps it open for the few people who stay over break. It’s a little weird sitting by himself and there only being three other people in the cafeteria, but he’s sure he’ll adjust. He starts eating his mac and cheese when suddenly someone walks up to him. “Mind if I sit here?” It’s Harry.

Zayn shrugs. “Sure, go ahead.” He then continues eating as if Harry isn’t there.

After he’s done, Zayn starts heading back up to his room, but Harry walks up behind him and stops him. “Hey, wait.”

“What?” Zayn asks, perhaps too aggressively because Harry looks like a puppy that’s just been kicked. He’s really not in the mood for this though, he’s got other things he needs to do.

“I… I was just going to ask if we could watch movies together or something,” Harry responds. “If you’re too busy though we don’t have to…” He starts carefully turning around and walking back downstairs.

Zayn should probably just let him keep walking because he _does_ have other things to do. He has stories to write and pictures to paint. Still though, something is stopping him from doing that. “Wait.” Harry turns around. “Alright, we can watch a movie together.”

Harry perks up at that and it’s so cute Zayn almost wants to smile back. Almost. He’s still kind of angry though since it’s so early in the morning.

The two of them go to Harry’s room (which is still messy, much to Zayn’s dislike) and watch movies for a few hours. Neither of them really say anything to the other and when it’s 8:00, they say goodnight and Zayn goes back to his room.

They fall into a pattern of doing that for the next few days: going to Harry’s room, watching movies together, and Zayn going back to his own room when they’re done. It’s kind of fun if Zayn’s honest with himself, minus the ever annoying rubbish. Harry has an impressive movie collection, and it’s nice to not be completely alone while they’re here.

One night though, Zayn forgets to leave at 8:00. He’s so tired and falls asleep right then and there on Harry’s shoulder. When he wakes up at 8 AM and realizes where he is, he’s shocked, but he doesn’t go back to his own room. Harry is so nice and cozy on his chest and it drifts him back to sleep again.

***

Zayn is avoiding Harry. Specifically, he’s avoiding him because ever since that night they fell asleep in his bed together, Zayn’s started developing… feelings for Harry. That isn’t allowed to happen though. Zayn can’t get feelings for a guy he barely even knows.

So every morning Zayn forces himself to get up at 7:30 AM (when the cafeteria first opens and before Harry will be awake), go down to the cafeteria, get breakfast, and go back to his room. It’s not easy; Zayn’s always believed break is supposed to be a time to _not_ wake up that early every morning, but he feels like it’s better than the alternative.

He’s eating the last of his oatmeal when suddenly his door is swung open. It’s Harry. Zayn swallows, his heart pulsing quickly. “Zayn,” Harry says, scarily calm. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zayn responds, attempting (and failing) to sound calm right back.

Harry walks into his room and stands next to his bed, not waiting for an invitation. “Why haven’t you been coming to watch movies with me anymore?”

Zayn sinks awkwardly on his bed. “Umm… I’ve been working on some things…”

“Like what?”

“Umm…” Zayn tries to think of a good excuse but can’t think of anything. “Look, Harry, I’m sorry for neglecting our movies. Do you want to watch some in here right now?”

He almost thinks Harry’s going to say no and walk out the door. He’d probably deserve it too. However, Harry’s face turns into a smile and he says, “Yeah, sure.”

With that, things go back to normal. Eventually, Harry moves some of his things into Zayn’s room – carefully heeding Zayn’s warnings to not bring too much rubbish – and the two of them start spending break together in Zayn’s room, falling asleep to his Weeknd CDs.


	2. Chapter 2

Louis wakes Zayn up with a text.

_See ? What did I tell you lad? Sorry , don’t mean to be rude. Hope you have a good holiday anyway, all things considered .xx_

Zayn has no idea how Louis found out about him still being in the school building. Maybe his mom told him, or maybe he just watches the news or something. Also, he’s like a week and several days late in sending this. If he was going to make fun, why didn’t he send it sooner?

Zayn scoffs reading the text. Since when has Louis ever cared if he comes off rude, even to his best friends? Whatever. Zayn’s not going to let this text ruin his day. He tries to go back to sleep but he’s wide awake now and after a few minutes of tossing and turning, he gets up.

As he opens his eyes for the second time, he notices Harry isn’t here. He feels kind of sad. He probably deserves it though for ignoring Harry so much up until a few days ago. He suddenly finds himself wondering if he snored too loud or something. Louis had always told Zayn he did that, but Zayn never believed him. He frowns. He really hopes he didn’t scare Harry away. He mentally slaps himself for even caring so much and stands up, stretching.

Just as he’s about to head to get some food, Harry comes through the door with two plates and two cups. “Aw come on!” Harry grumbles when he sees Zayn. “You were supposed to still be sleeping!”

Zayn looks at him, surprised. “Do you need some help?”

Harry shakes his head. “I worked as a waiter last semester, I got this.” Zayn isn’t so sure but sits back down on his bed anyway. Harry walks slowly to ‘his’ (technically Louis’) bed, wobbling a few times but catching himself every time. He carefully sets down one of the plates and one of the cups he’s carrying on the bedside table. As he turns to Zayn he starts to move the other plate from his arm to his now free hand, but drops it. “Oh no!” he cries, quickly putting the other cup on the bedside table and rushing to look for towels. He’s so freaked out, it makes Zayn feel kind of bad about his strict anti-messiness policy.

Frowning, he sighs and gets up to help Harry. He goes to the bathroom and pulls out several paper towels. “Here,” he says, walking back to the spill and kneeling down to help Harry. The two of them work in silence, cleaning up the mess.

Zayn offers to take the plate downstairs, but Harry shakes his head. “No, you stay here, it’s okay. Thank you for helping me clean it up.” Too tired to protest, Zayn just walks back to his bed. “Oh!” Harry says suddenly. “Here.” He hands one of the cups and the remaining plate to Zayn.

“What?” Zayn asks. “No, no, these were supposed to be yours.”

Harry shrugs. “I’ll just get more when I go back downstairs. Besides, it’s the least I can do for destroying yours.”

It’s really not that big of a thing at all, but somehow Zayn is flattered anyway. “Thanks.” Harry nods and returns to the fallen plate, turning to take it downstairs. Zayn looks down at the plate on his lap. Three blueberry muffins. _Well,_ Zayn thinks, biting into one after peeling off the wrapper. _Who doesn’t love blueberry muffins?_ He smiles as he chews on it.

Harry comes back a little while later with another plate of blueberry muffins. They eat in silence for a little while and Zayn thinks it should probably feel awkward, but it doesn’t. It’s actually kind of nice. “So, I’ve realized that even though we’ve been spending break together for some time now, we still barely know anything about each other and to be honest it’s kind of awkward sleeping in the same room as someone and barely knowing anything about them, so… What’s your story?” Harry finally asks.

“What?” Zayn questions, not sure how to respond to that. He’s finished with his blueberry muffins now and sets the now empty plate on his bedside table.

Harry rolls his eyes slightly but Zayn can tell it’s out of fondness, not frustration. “Your story. You know, what are you majoring in? How did you get here? Where do you live? Those sorts of things.”

“Oh,” Zayn says, thinking. He’s still not sure how much he can really trust Harry, but something in Harry’s eyes tells him he’s genuinely interested and won’t judge. “Well… I live in Bradford with my mum, dad, and three sisters. I’m majoring in art. Umm… I first started looking at this school when my best friend Louis started talking about it. For a while I had been like no way, I don’t wanna study in the states. That’s too far away, especially since my family isn’t that good money-wise.” He breathes out. “But then I like started looking at the art program they have here and like the scholarship options and stuff and I decided to apply here.” Harry nods at him, hanging on to every word. “What about you? What’s your story?”

“Well,” Harry responds. “Mine is probably boring in comparison to yours.” Zayn rolls his eyes at that because yeah, as if what he said was really that interesting. “But I’m from Holmes Chapel. I live with my mum, step dad, and sister Gemma. I don’t really know what I’m going to do to be honest with you. My mum told me I was allowed to just take a year off to think about it, but I didn’t want to. I’ve been wanting to go to this school since like, as long as I can remember. So as soon as I received that acceptance letter, I thought to myself there’s no way I’m sticking around longer than I have to. Now that I’m here though, I kind of wish I’d listened to what she said.”

Zayn blinks, surprised Harry just admitted all that to him. “So like you haven’t declared a major yet?”

“No I have,” Harry confirms. “As of now I’m majoring in Biology. But I feel like I’ll probably change it a million times before I’m even close to getting out of here.” He sighs, wiping one of his eyes.

“Do your parents not know?” Zayn asks softly, nearly whispering. Harry just shakes his head, and Zayn can tell he’s trying to blink back tears. “Hey,” Zayn says, standing up and walking over to the other bed. He sits down and wraps his arms around Harry, suddenly not caring as much as he did before about crossing boundaries. “It’s okay, alright?” He brings him closer until Harry is basically laying on his lap.

“That’s why I was so angry about the flights being cancelled,” Harry says, finally giving in and letting the tears fall. “I just… I needed to talk to my mum about this, face to face. She’s always had a way with words, a way of letting me know everything was going to be alright no matter what.” Now he’s crying, hiding his face in his hands. “I just want to be the best son I can be for them.”

“I know,” Zayn assures him, lightly running his hands up and down Harry’s arms. “I really do. Sometimes I’m worried that my parents will one day decide they’re angry at me for majoring in art instead of a ‘real’ career. But then I have to remember that no matter what, they’ll always be there for me. And I think the same is true for you and your parents.”

Harry uncovers his eyes. “You really think so?” Zayn nods. Harry sits up, putting a little distance between him and Zayn. “Sorry I like… sprung all that on you. It’s just been building up in my mind a lot recently and… I don’t know. You seem really caring.”

Zayn smiles slightly at that. “I don’t mind at all. You can… spring things on me anytime.” The two of them laugh for a few moments at that.

“I like you Zayn,” Harry says suddenly and Zayn isn’t sure why that makes his heart beat as quickly as it does. “I know we like barely know each other and all but you seem like a really nice person.”

Zayn smiles. “I like you too, Harry. Even if you spilled food all over my floor.” Harry starts tensing up and Zayn laughs. “Kidding, kidding.”

Harry smiles. “Do you think we could listen to those Weeknd CDs? I really like them.”

Now Zayn smiles as well and goes back over to his side of the room to turn on the CD player. After all three of the CDs end, the two of them spend the rest of the day just talking mostly. Zayn learns that Harry’s roommate’s name is Niall and that he, like Louis, was smarter and left for the UK a day before Zayn and Harry had attempted to. Unlike Louis though, Niall isn’t taking less classes. He’s actually taking way too many classes in Zayn’s opinion, but he doesn’t say that to Harry. Niall apparently talked to his professors and got all his exams done early. “I told him he was losing it,” Harry says. “Why would you do that to yourself? Taking that many exams in such a short time frame.” Zayn laughs in agreement. His amount of exams this year was enough, he doesn’t even want to imagine taking as many as Niall, especially in such a short time frame.

He also learns that Harry’s bisexual, which is definitely not something he expected Harry to be so forward about so early in their friendship. He’s kind of flattered that Harry trusts him that much though, to be honest. Zayn admits to Harry that he really doesn’t know what he is as of now. "That’s okay,” Harry assures him. “In all honesty I feel like a lot of people are too quick to decide what they are. It’s a very fluid thing in a lot of ways.” Zayn isn’t completely sure if he agrees with that all the way, because finding a label is a very important thing for a lot of people. Still though, he appreciates Harry’s support.

By the time the two of them finish talking to each other about their childhoods (Zayn finds out Harry was also a huge fan of Power Rangers just like him) and don’t really know what else to discuss, it’s 5 PM. Zayn decides this time the two of them will go downstairs together so no more food can be spilled on the floor. “Heeey,” Harry says, looking offended, but Zayn can see a bit of a smile forming on his lips.

They bring their food back up to their room, Harry bringing three napkins just in case. Zayn eats his mac and cheese in silence for a little bit before he asks, “So are you dating anyone?”

Harry nearly chokes on his soda and Zayn can’t help but laugh slightly at the sight. “Why, you making an offer?” He wiggles his eyebrows. Zayn rolls his eyes but his heartbeat is doing somersaults in his chest. After laughing, Harry gathers himself back up and says, “No, not dating anyone right now. Haven’t really dated anyone since high school really.”

“And how long have you been going here again?” Harry throws a napkin at Zayn’s face and Zayn erupts in a fit of giggles. “Just kidding, just kidding.”

“Well what about you then?” Harry asks, tone as if he’s trying to prove something. “Are _you_ dating anybody?” Zayn feels his expression fall to a frown and hopes Harry won’t notice, but he does. “Oh no.” Now he’s frowning too.

“Umm…” Zayn clears his throat, feeling uncomfortable now. “No, I’m not dating anybody. My umm… my last relationship ended pretty badly and…” He really doesn’t want to talk about this right now. Remembering it always brings him to tears.

“Hey, hey,” Harry gets up, putting down his food and drink and walking over to him. “It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it.” He moves Zayn’s mac and cheese out of the way and lays down next to him. “Is this okay?” he asks, wrapping his arms around him.

Usually Zayn would feel weird about being this close to someone. Even his parents and sisters being this close weirds him out a majority of the time. There’s something comforting about Harry being here though, it’s kind of nice. “Very.” He didn’t mean to say that, he just meant to say a simple ‘yes,’ but Harry’s arms pulling him closer tells him he isn’t judging. The two of them are still in that position three hours later. Harry never finished his dinner, but he doesn’t seem to care. Eventually they fall asleep, still in each other’s arms.

***

“Merry Christmas Eve!” Harry announces, practically on top of Zayn and pushing food into his face.

“Woah,” Zayn jerks awake suddenly. “It’s Christmas Eve already?”

“Mhmm,” Harry nods happily. “Now eat up. We’ve got an awesome day ahead of us.” Zayn isn’t sure what exactly he means by that, but he takes the plate of pancakes and starts eating. Harry goes back to his own bed, eating pancakes of his own. Seeing Harry in that bed reminds Zayn of something. He looks at the time. 10 AM. That’s 3 PM in the UK, but he doesn’t feel like talking to anyone who’s not Harry right now. He’ll wish Louis happy birthday later.

“So like…” Zayn starts. Harry turns around to face him. Zayn thinks he sees Harry smile at him lovingly, but it’s probably just his imagination. “Are we gonna do something special tomorrow? Since it’s Christmas and all that.” He hopes it doesn’t sound as romantic as he’s afraid it does.

“Oh yeah,” Harry responds like it’s obvious. “I don’t think we can bring an actual tree up here but maybe we could paint one together.”

“Paint one together?” Zayn asks, making sure he heard him right.

Harry rolls his eyes. “Yes Zayn, paint one together. I know you’re gonna try to talk yourself out of it and say something like you’re ‘not good enough’ or whatever, but that’s garbage. I’ve seen some of the paintings you have hanging up around here. And whenever you talk about painting, I see the spark in your eyes. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Zayn blushes. He _has_ talked to Harry before about enjoying painting, but he really doesn’t see himself as as good as Harry seems to. Still, he doesn’t argue because Harry told him not to, and it probably will be fun. “Sure. Sounds good to me.”

Harry smiles brightly and Zayn can’t help but be taken aback by how beautiful his smile is, and how sparkly his teeth are. All Zayn wants to do is just kiss those beautiful lips… “Great,” Harry says happily, bringing Zayn back to reality. “You’re going to love the present I got you.”

Zayn freezes. A present. Harry got him a present. Zayn… Zayn didn’t get Harry a present. “You got me a present?”

“Yeah,” Harry replies. He quickly seems to realize Zayn’s thoughts though and says all at once “no, no, no. It’s okay. You don’t have to feel bad about not getting me a present if you didn’t.” Under his breath, Zayn thinks he hears him say “being with you is the best present I could ask for.”

Zayn itches his ear, sure he heard that wrong. He then shakes his head. “No, I’m not allowing you to get me a present that’s probably really awesome and then leave you with nothing on Christmas. I’ll… I’ll think of something.” Zayn isn’t sure what that something is, exactly. He has enough money to pay for his tuition and books here, but not much more.

The smile that come up on Harry’s face because of that though, lets him know that he needs to give him something really amazing. It also makes Zayn’s heart start beating fast, but he chooses to ignore that. “Thanks Zayn. You’re really sweet, you know that?”

Zayn isn’t sure he believes him, but he can’t stop himself from smiling in response. He doesn’t understand why Harry affects him the way he does. “Thank you, Harry. You are, too.”

Now Harry’s smiling even wider and Zayn thinks he probably is too as a result. As he’s eating the rest of the pancakes, he wonders to himself who allowed someone to have as gorgeous a smile as Harry Styles. Who even allowed such a beautiful kind person to walk around this world? Zayn thinks it’s not fair to those of them who are average.

Zayn also thinks it’s not fair that Harry had to come into his life in the first place, because he’s so perfect and, as much as Zayn tries to deny it to himself, he’s crushing on him. Like really, head over heels. He thought it would go away after he stopped ignoring Harry and they became roommates for the break, but it’s only made it worse, and sadly, he knows that’s probably not going to change now. Zayn also knows, though, that Harry probably doesn’t feel the same way about him, so he never makes a move, because he doesn’t want to ruin their friendship.

After the two of them are done with their pancakes and bring the plates back to the kitchen, Harry leads Zayn to a room he’s been to many times: the art room.

In the room, Zayn can see some of his pieces hanging up and he really hopes Harry doesn’t notice them because they’re, in his opinion, some of his worst works. Harry notices them anyway though, of course. “Woah, are these yours?”

“Yeah,” Zayn admits, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. “They’re not that great.”

Harry looks at him like he’s lost his mind. “Are you kidding me? These are beautiful. You’re such an amazing artist, Zayn.”

Zayn can feel himself blushing. “Thank you.”

After Harry’s done staring at Zayn’s art in happy amazement, he turns back to face Zayn, smile still on his face. “Okay, now pick one.”

“Pick one what?” Zayn asks, raising an eyebrow.

Harry rolls his eyes. “A canvas for us to draw our Christmas tree on, silly. Why do you think we’re in here?”

That’s a good point, Zayn thinks. He hadn’t really thought about it to be honest. Then again he was probably too lost in Harry’s eyes to think about much else. Zayn walks over to the spot where the canvases always are and grabs two, just in case they need to start over. “Do we need paint as well?”

“No,” Harry responds automatically. “Didn’t you say you always keep extra paint in your closet?”

Zayn smiles to himself, extremely happy that Harry remembers such a small detail about him. “Yeah, I do.” He carries both of the canvases out of the room, Harry by his side.

“Do you want me to carry one of those?” Harry asks, giving Zayn a concerned look.

“No, I got them,” Zayn replies immediately. He doesn’t want to make Harry carry anything. Besides, he’s used to this from all the times he’s taken canvases back to his room to work on a project.

When they get back to the room, Zayn sets down one of the canvases by the door and takes the other with him as he goes to his closet. He puts the remaining canvas on the floor of his closet. If they end up not needing it, he’s definitely going to use it for something else. He picks up his paint brushes and green, red, yellow, and orange paint, taking them all back to where Harry is standing. He hands one of the paint brushes to Harry and sets the other one, as well as the paint buckets, down on the floor. “So, what do you want it to look like?” Zayn isn’t sure why he’s asking that. It’s a Christmas tree. What is there for it to look like other than that?

“I don’t know,” Harry shrugs. “You’re the amazing artist, not me.”

That shouldn’t make Zayn’s heart beat as quickly as it does. He decides to just hand Harry the green paint. “Here, you can do the tree and I’ll do the decorations.”

Harry looks like a little kid who was just told they got an unlimited supply of their favorite candy. Quickly though, his expression sinks. “What if I’m terrible though?”

Now it’s Zayn’s turn to roll his eyes at Harry. “Harry, it’s a tree. And besides, even if you did do terrible – which you won’t – it’ll still be awesome because you made it.” Zayn thinks maybe he’s said too much, that it sounded too romantic, but Harry just smiles and opens the green paint, dipping his brush in and starting to paint the tree.

Zayn isn’t sure whether it’s just his love for Harry or what, but when he finishes painting the tree, Zayn is taken aback. “What?” Suddenly Harry looks self-conscious. “Is it terrible?”

Zayn just kind of stands there with his mouth in an ‘o’ shape for a while, not able to speak. When he notices Harry’s expression is getting sadder and sadder though, he speaks. “No, are you kidding me? It looks amazing.” He hugs Harry, not even caring that his hands smear green paint all over his shirt.

“You mean it?” Harry asks when Zayn pulls back.

“Yeah,” Zayn confirms. “It really looks like a real Christmas tree. Good job babe.”

Harry laughs, blushing. “Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.” They both smile at each other for a few moments in silence. “But umm… it can’t look like a real Christmas tree without the decorations.”

“Right,” Zayn agrees. It starts out as just him putting little yellow, red, and orange circles across the tree, but eventually Harry joins in, painting a princess and other random things on it. Zayn can’t help but think if Louis were here, he would’ve drawn fifteen penises on it by now. They go like that for what feels like hours, painting random things on top of their tree. Finally, you can barely see the tree underneath all the decorations, but that’s okay because they did it together. “Wait, we’re still missing one thing.” Harry looks at him confused, but then Zayn paints a yellow star on the top of the tree. “There, now it’s perfect.”

Zayn takes the brushes and cleans them off with a napkin, then closes back up the paint boxes and takes them all back to his closet. “We should probably go to the bathroom and put on clean clothes.”

“Right,” Harry agrees, looking down at himself.

The two of them wash their hands first, Harry lightly splashing water in Zayn’s face and giggling, which makes Zayn giggle too. They change their clothes privately though. After the two of them have gotten cleaned up, Zayn goes to sit down on his bed again, but Harry shakes his head. “No, get back up,” he insists. Zayn’s confused, but obliges. “I told you today was gonna be awesome. While we’re waiting for the paint to dry, we’re gonna go outside and enjoy the snow.”

“What?” Zayn asks. “What do you mean ‘enjoy the snow’?”

Harry rolls his eyes. “I mean, go outside, go sledding, do snow angels, snow ball fights, whatever – enjoy the snow.”

“I don’t even know how to sled, and I don’t think I have the right gear-”

“I’ve got two sledding boards back in my room,” Harry persists. “And all you need is snow boots, snow pants, a coat, gloves, and a hat – stuff you’d need to go out into the snow anyway.”

Zayn wonders if he could get away with lying to Harry and saying he doesn’t have that stuff, but Harry would probably figure it out. He really has no excuse. “But-”

Harry silences him by putting his finger to Zayn’s mouth, and darn it if Zayn doesn’t feel like melting under his soft touch. “We’re doing it. Now, let’s go.” Zayn nods, feeling too weak under Harry’s touch to say anything else.

Harry goes to his room to get the sleds and his winter clothes – a black and white coat, a blue hat, and blue gloves. Zayn gets on his as well – a brown coat, a dark purple hat, and black gloves.

When they’ve both got everything on, they walk downstairs and out to the field where the sport events are usually held in the summer and spring. Looking at it all covered in white like this, Zayn is taken aback. “Wow.” Harry laughs at him for being so amazed, but Zayn ignores it. “I mean, I knew it had to get covered in snow over here in the winter, but I never realized how much there could really be.”

Harry chuckles a little more, then surprises Zayn by taking his gloved hand. Zayn doesn’t fight it though, because he’s afraid if he points it out it’ll go away and he doesn’t want it to go away. Even in the freezing weather, Zayn is suddenly burning because of how warm Harry’s hand against his feels. He doesn’t even pay attention to where they’re going, but before he knows it Harry lets go. “Here we are.”

“Wow,” Zayn says again, and this time he thinks it’s well deserved. There’s a huge hill in front of them. Not huge enough that they have to worry about being taken to the hospital for sledding down it, but still pretty huge. “How… how did you discover this place?”

Harry shrugs. “I don’t even remember. I think Niall showed it to me our freshman year.” Despite himself, Zayn just can’t stop gaping at the area below them. If he wasn’t scared of sledding before, he definitely is now. “Well… Are you gonna gawk at it all day or are we going sledding?”

Zayn thinks for a minute. “I would but…” he falls down onto the snow, spreading around his arms and legs to form a snow angel. “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up, you see?”

Harry snickers. “Oh my gosh.” He sets down the sleds and starts balling up some pieces of snow.

“Don’t you d-” Harry throws the snow ball at Zayn’s face. “You messed up my snow angel! You jerk!” Harry suddenly explodes in laughter. “Oh you’re gonna pay for that.” Zayn gets up and Harry tries to move out of the way but he’s too slow.

Zayn tackles him, and they’re rolling back and forth along the snow, laughing the whole way. When they finally separate their bodies and just lay beside each other, they look down at the bottom of the hill again, and in the midst of their rolling, they hadn’t even realized the sleds fell all the way down the hill. They look at each other and then collapse with laughter again.

“I’m sorry I ruined your snow angel,” Harry says, trying to hold back laughter. “Even though it was very ugly.”

Zayn makes an offended sound. “Like your snow angel would’ve been any better.”

“Alright.” Harry spreads his arms and legs out and makes a snow angel. When he’s done, he stands up. “Huh, huh? I think that’s definitely better.”

While Zayn wants to compliment it, because he thinks everything Harry does is great, he doesn’t want Harry to win this one. “No, still ugly.” Harry looks offended, but Zayn ignores it and just walks over and smashes a snowball right on to Harry’s face. It takes a second, but then Harry tackles him and they’re rolling around the field laughing again.

This time though, Zayn pulls back because he feels something against his back. “Ouch.” When he looks behind him he realizes they rolled all the way down to where the sleds are.

“Well,” Harry says, looking back up. “Looks like you got over your fear of going down the hill, kind of.” He laughs, making Zayn laugh too.

“I guess so.”

“Think you’re brave enough to go sledding down it now?” Harry asks genuinely.

“Yeah,” Zayn says, an energy rush coming over him. It fades as soon as it comes though. He sighs. “First we have to take these all the way back up there, don’t we?”

Harry nods. “’Fraid so.”

Zayn sighs and grabs one of the sleds, Harry grabbing the other. The walk all the way back up to the top is not nearly as exciting as rolling down to the bottom was. When they get back up there, Harry shows Zayn how to get in the sled correctly and what to hold on to so he doesn’t fall off course.

After Zayn’s pretty sure he’s got it, Harry walks over to his own sled and quickly gets into it. “Race you down!” He yells, pushing off.

“Hey!” Zayn yells back, scrambling to get going. Harry is laughing all the way down the hill, until they both fall. Zayn glares at him. “That wasn’t fair!”

Harry shrugs. “It was fun though, wasn’t it?”

Zayn’s glare fades. “Fine, alright. Yeah, you were right. It was amazing.”

Harry perks up. “Wanna go again?”

Zayn shakes his head fondly. “Of course.”

They go like that for what feels like forever. Sometimes they talk on the way back up the hill, but it’s hard to talk when you’re out of breath and in the cold. On their final few sleds down, they hold hands and wait to see how long it will take before the gravity pulls them apart. Sometimes they lose their gloves in the process and their hands end up freezing for a few moments while they scramble to find them, but it’s okay.

When they finish their last round of sledding, they just kind of lay in the snow together for a few moments, just watching the sky and thinking. The silence between them probably should be awkward, Zayn thinks, but it’s actually kind of relaxing. This definitely has to be one of the best days of his life, if he’s honest with himself. It may be cheesy, but it’s true.

Finally, the two of them get up, taking the sleds with them, and go back inside. Harry takes the sleds back to his room and Zayn waits for him (because as much as he loves Harry, he’s still not stepping in that messy room again).

When Harry’s put the sleds away and they’ve changed out of their snow garments, they go back to Zayn’s room. When they get there, the painting of the tree the two of them did together is dry. Zayn smiles at it and then lays down on his bed, suddenly extremely exhausted from all the sledding. “No,” Harry says immediately. “No laying down-”

“Oh come on,” Zayn interrupts. “I’ve been sledding and enjoying the snow with you for who knows how long, and it was fun Harry, alright? It really was. But can’t I just rest my body now? I’m exhausted.”

Harry’s quiet for a moment before he mutters, “I was going to say… no laying down without me.”

Zayn looks up. He’s not sure how to respond, so instead he just moves over to make room for Harry beside him. When they’re in the bed together side by side, Harry wraps his arms around Zayn and exhales. Zayn tries not to let his heart beat too fast at that because they were just out in the cold, and Harry’s probably only doing this because he’s cold, not because he feels any special way about Zayn. Still, Zayn wraps his arms around Harry as well and allows himself to drift off to sleep in his warm arms.

Unfortunately though, he’s not allowed to sleep as long as he would like to because he’s woken up by a ringing of his phone. He groans, looking over at the clock by the bedside table. 8 PM. What could this person want at this hour? He picks up his phone and answers it, not even caring enough to look at who’s calling. “Who is it?” he tries to sound cheery, but probably just sounds as angry as he feels.

“‘Who is it?’” the person on the other line responds. “Wow, what a great way to greet your best friend on his birthday.”

Zayn thinks for a moment, not understanding what they’re talking about, but then remembers. _Oh, goody._ “Louis?”

“Yes, the one and only,” Louis responds. Now _he_ sounds angry too. “Why didn’t you call to wish me a happy birthday or anything?”

“I – I don’t know,” Zayn tries. “I’m really sorry, Louis. I meant to, I just forgot. Wait a minute-” he looks at the time again. “Isn’t it 1 AM over there right now?”

“Yep,” Louis replies proudly. “Pulling an all-nighter to celebrate. And don’t try to tell me that it’s not technically my birthday anymore or whatever, because it still is where you are.”

Zayn sighs. “Okay, alright.” He sings the happy birthday song to Louis. “Happy?”

“Very,” Louis confirms. “But don’t pull that again or I’m handing the best friend card over to Liam, alright?”

Zayn squirms. He really hopes Louis isn’t serious with those words. As much as he loves Liam too, he doesn’t want him to be Louis’ best friend instead of Zayn. “Alright. Have fun. Bye.”

“Bye.”

They hang up on each other and Zayn collapses again, sighing. Harry’s still at his side, staring at him. “What?”

“You have a great singing voice,” Harry says. Zayn scoffs at him. “No, really. How come you’ve never sung around me before? Your voice is really good.”

Zayn smiles, shrugging. “I don’t know. I’ve just always been more focused on other things I guess.”

“Sing something to me,” Harry insists.

“Wha-? Like what exactly?” Zayn is caught off guard by Harry’s huge interest in his voice.

“I don’t know,” Harry says. “Maybe put on one of those Weeknd CDs you’re always playing again, but like, really softly, and sing along to it?”

Zayn finds it a weird request, but he goes over and presses play on the CD player like usual and turns down the volume. Harry ends up convincing him to sing the whole first CD, and by the time he’s done, Harry is asleep. _Great,_ Zayn thinks. _My singing bored him to sleep._ He sighs, but just as he’s about to attempt to carefully climb over the bed and fall asleep at Harry’s side again, he gets an idea.

He runs to the closet, carefully getting out his paints and canvas, and starts walking towards the door. It’s less graceful than he hoped for, but Harry still appears fast asleep as Zayn walks out the door and towards the bathroom.

***

Harry wakes Zayn up the next morning (as seems to be the pattern with them) with a bunch of jingle bells. “Merry Christmas!”

Zayn stretches and rubs his eyes. Harry is dressed in what appears to be a leprechaun costume. Zayn laughs loudly. “What in the world are you wearing, babe?”

Harry puts on his infamous pretending-to-be-offended face. “I’m an elf, come on.”

“You look ridiculous,” Zayn says honestly.

Harry pouts. “It’s that kind of attitude that will get you coal in your stockings. Now come on, Christmas breakfast awaits us.”

Zayn shakes his head fondly but gets up, not caring enough to change out of his clothes from yesterday. He still chances (what he hopes is) a subtle glance at his closet, making sure he didn’t leave anything in the bathroom last night. He can see all his paints and the canvas peeking out, and he’s glad. “Zayn? You coming?”

Zayn jerks back to reality. “Oh yeah. Sorry.”

They walk downstairs to the cafeteria and select their favorite types of pancakes and syrups from the menu, then sit down at a table. It’s quiet, but by now they’re used to that since only two other people stayed here this break. “By the way,” Harry says suddenly, stuffing his face with his banana pancakes. “Your singing last night was amazing. I like your voice a lot.”

Zayn giggles, feeling redness in his cheeks and ducking his head towards the plate so Harry can’t see it. “I thought it bored you so much you fell asleep though.”

Zayn chances a look at Harry, and he’s wearing the most genuinely offended face Zayn can ever remember him having. “No, it was soothing. I fell asleep because it calmed me, not bored me.”

Zayn can’t help it; he smiles widely and doesn’t hide it this time. “Thank you so much Harry. Really, no one’s ever told me I could sing before.”

“Well, those people are missing out.”

They spend the rest of the breakfast in silence. When they go back up to their room, Zayn notices something next to their tree painting. “What’s that?”

Harry smiles and picks it up. “It’s your Christmas present.”

Zayn swallows, suddenly nervous. “Can I open it now?”

Harry smiles even wider, like that’s exactly what he wanted to hear. “Of course you can.” He puts the present in Zayn’s hands and watches as Zayn sits down on his bed and starts opening it.

When Zayn finally opens it up, he gasps. It’s two tickets to see The Weeknd in concert. “Harry, what? How? You didn’t have to-”

“But I wanted to,” Harry says, smiling. “Do you love it?”

“This is one of the best presents anyone’s ever given me,” Zayn says honestly, setting the tickets down and getting up to hug Harry tightly. “Thank you so much. I love you.”

Suddenly Harry tenses and Zayn looks at his face. His grin has slightly changed to a look of concern. Zayn wants to ask why but before he can, Harry speaks again. “You have to read the card too.”

“Oh,” Zayn says awkwardly, not sure why not reading a card would cause this reaction in Harry. Still, he goes back over to his bed and looks at the envelope he didn’t notice at first. He tears it open and looks at the card. On the front is a drawing of a tree, a heart, and a smilie face. Zayn laughs softly because it’s such a thing Harry would draw. When he opens the card, there’s no other pictures, just a note.

_Dear Zayn,_

_I know this is kind of sudden since we’ve only known each other for a few weeks now, but I feel like I know you better than anybody else, and I feel like you know me better than anyone else as well. I love your smile, your love for your friends and family, your love for your art, your ugly snow angels, your soothing CDs, your voice (both speaking and singing), and I love_ you _._

_Not just as a friend either. I know I’m taking a huge risk here and if you don’t feel the same, I hope it doesn’t ruin our friendship, but… I have a crush on you Zayn. And it scares me, but also makes me happy._

_Merry Christmas!_

_PS your snow angels aren’t actually ugly. They’re gorgeous just like you._

When Zayn finishes reading, his hands are shaking. He reads it over a few more times, just to make sure he didn’t just imagine it. After three times of re-reading it, he looks up at Harry, mouth wide. Harry looks like he’s about to cry, probably because it’s taken Zayn so long to respond. No, Zayn thinks. He won’t allow Harry to cry. He wants to say something reassuring but the first words out of his mouth are “do you really mean that?”

Harry looks up at him, tears visibly forming. His voice breaks as he replies, “More than I’ve ever meant anything.” Now Zayn’s the one with tears forming in his eyes, but they’re tears of happiness. He pushes the card onto his bed and jumps up, running over to Harry and taking him in his arms. “Please,” Harry says, obviously attempting (and failing) to hold back crying. “If you don’t feel the same, just break it to me slowly. I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” Zayn responds, shaking his head. “The truth is, I feel the same way about you.”

“Don’t lie just to make me feel better.”

Zayn slaps him lightly on the cheek, but then kisses it. “I’m not lying, Harry. I love your eyes, I love the way you force me to do things I’m scared of doing and bring me some of the most fun memories ever as a result, I love the way your arms feel around mine when we fall asleep together, I love the way you put your family first, I love your kindness and the way you just care for other people, I love the messiness in your room, and I love _you,_ Harry.”

Now Harry’s smiling widely through his tears, but Zayn thinks they’ve changed from sad to happy tears now, which he’s grateful for. “PS,” Zayn continues. “I don’t actually love the messiness in your room. You’ve seriously gotta clean that place up man.”

They laugh for a few moments, the awkwardness fading away, and then before he can stop himself, Zayn brings Harry’s lips to his. It’s very soft and they don’t go past having their mouths closed, but it’s still the best feeling in the world. Zayn can’t believe it’s really happening; he’s kissing Harry, and Harry’s kissing him right back. They both love each other and are on their way to being more than friends. This is definitely the best moment of Zayn’s life.

When the two separate, Zayn remembers something. “Oh, almost forgot.” He rushes to his closet and gets out the canvas, no longer blank, but instead a painting of himself next to Harry with a heart around them. He brings it over to Harry. “It may not be much but you said you liked my paintings so-”

“Are you kidding?” Harry nearly yells, taking the painting from his hands. “This is amazing.” He carefully sets it down on the bed and embraces Zayn. “Thank you so much. When I go back to my own room this will be the first thing I hang up.”

Now Zayn tenses up. _Back to his own room…_ After spending so long with just the two of them in this room, it’s hard to remember sometimes that this is only a temporary thing and soon they won’t be roommates anymore. Suddenly feeling sad, Zayn pulls away from the hug and goes back to his own bed.

“What?” Harry asks, concerned. “Zayn? Is everything alright?”

Try as he might, Zayn just can’t stop himself from crying. “I just don’t want you to leave.”

Now Harry’s frowning too. “I don’t want to either. But hey, look at me.” Zayn obliges, turning his gaze from the floor to Harry’s face again, even though it hurts. “Listen, I’ll just be a few doors down. You know where to find me, even if it’s messy.” He laughs sadly. “We can visit each other every night if you want.”

Zayn knows that they’re only a few doors apart, but that doesn’t stop the aching feeling in his stomach about the fact that they won’t be roommates anymore. Still, he knows they’ll make it work somehow. “Okay.”

Harry smiles in response and after a few moments says “now, wipe that frown off your face and let’s celebrate Christmas the best way we know how.”

Zayn smirks at him. “If you’re thinking about getting me out on that hill again, it’s not going to happen. I’m still sore from yesterday.”

“No,” Harry assures him. “I was thinking more along the lines of falling asleep in each other’s arms to the sound of your music playing in the background.”

Zayn smiles. “Sounds good to me.”

It truly was the best winter break Zayn could ask for. In all honesty, if he had to choose between the snow not happening and getting to go back to his family or getting stuck at school with Harry, he’d definitely keep the second option. After the break ends, Louis comes back excited to talk to Zayn about how they each spent their breaks, and Zayn can’t wait to tell him everything.

Despite himself though, Zayn finds himself slightly uncomfortable at times when Louis lays down on his bed, having to remind himself it’s no longer Harry’s bed. After both their roommates know about their romance though, Zayn and Harry will occasionally come into each other’s rooms (Harry’s cleaned up a lot, Zayn’s impressed) and fall asleep in each other’s arms to the tune of Zayn’s CDs, just like they did almost every night during the best winter of their lives.


End file.
